Blumenthal appeals decision on Indian tribes

HARTFORD -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed an unprecedented state appeal Thursday of a controversial federal decision to recognize two rival Native American groups as a single tribe.

GREGORY B. HLADKY

Published
12:00 am EDT, Friday, September 27, 2002

The state's appeal, which was joined by the three eastern Ledyard, Preston and North Stonington, claims the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs' recognition ruling was "fatally tainted" and flawed.

The federal Interior Board of Indian Appeals now has 30 days to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the issues raised by the state's appeal.

Blumenthal said the BIA's joint recognition of the Eastern Pequots and Paucatuck Eastern Pequots has "far-reaching ramifications" for would-be tribes and towns all across Connecticut and the nation.

Several other Connecticut Native American groups, including the Golden Hill Paugussetts in Bridgeport and the Schaghticokes in Kent, are also seeking federal recognition. Much of the opposition to federal recognition of these groups results from fears that every recognized tribe will build new casinos.

Possibly a dozen additional Connecticut municipalities from Fairfield County and elsewhere may seek to join in the administrative appeal, Blumenthal said.

However, leaders of the Eastern Pequots and Paucatuck Eastern Pequots shrugged off the filing of the appeal.

Marcia Jones Flowers, chairwoman of the Eastern Pequot Indians' Tribal Council said the announcement of the appeal merely provided "confirmation that the issue for the Attorney General and the towns is really gaming." She claimed the intent of the appeal is to stop possible casinos by "attacking our very existence."

Flowers said her people "are confident that an unemotional and fair review of the evidence, untainted by gaming issues, will result in the appeal being rejected."

"We have been preparing for this for years and we know that when the dust settles we will be a federally recognized tribe," said Chief James A. Cunha Jr. of the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots.

Meanwhile, Gov. John G. Rowland also sent a letter to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals supporting the new appeal by the state and the three Connecticut towns. In June, Rowland, a Republican, accepted the BIA's decision, but has said he changed his mind after further review of the controversial ruling. Rowland's Democrat opponent Bill Curry, has harshly criticized Rowland's "flip-flop" on the BIA's decision.

Blumenthal said the state's appeal focuses on a series of alleged errors and procedural flaws that "tainted and infected " the BIA's decision.

In particular, he said the BIA heavily relied on the tribes' claims that their members were denied the right to vote in Connecticut before 1973. Blumenthal said voting records refute that claim.

In addition, Blumenthal said the BIA decision was erroneously based on the state's recognition of the tribal groups, when evidence will show that the two rival groups lacked any sense of social or political unity.

"We believe there was political influence (involved in the BIA decision) arising from people with wealth," Blumenthal said when asked if the casino interests backing the two tribes had helped push recognition through. "Money is driving this process."

The federal appeals board could reject Connecticut's appeal and Blumenthal said if that happens the state would file a court action. The board could also sustain the appeal and decide there is no basis to recognize the tribes, or it could refer the entire matter back to the BIA again.

Blumenthal said he knows of no other state that has ever appealed a recognition decision. No BIA recognition decision has ever been overturned.

But U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2, argued that "no recognition decision has ever replicated this one."

"The host towns have been fighting this issue on a number of fronts," Simmons said. "Sooner or later we have to receive some sort of recognition for the problems we've been facing with the BIA."

Blumenthal also said he would again support state legislation to repeal authority for so-called "casino nights" for charitable organizations, which was the loophole that originally allowed federally recognized Indian tribes to introduce real casino gaming into Connecticut.

He said he believes such legislation, although it has failed in the past, could stop new tribes from putting up new casinos in the future.